Saturday, August 15, 2009

Expressions

Mark Rothko’s style is called colorfield painting.His works consist of strong formal elements, such as color, shape, balance, depth, composition, and scale. The things every good painter uses.

Because a canvas is a two-dimensional surface, painting should avoid any illusion of three-dimensional representation. Even so, Rothko refused to be considered solely in these terms, arguing, “It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academic painting…. However, there is no such thing as good painting about nothing”.

Rothko believed that while flat, two-dimensional forms destroyed illusion, they also revealed truth.

What is the truth that Rothko attempted to reveal?The titles of his paintings offer few answers, as Rothko begins to abandon conventional titles in 1947. Some critics have suggested that Rothko’s works refer to Western American landscape.

However, Rothko declared that there was no “landscape” in his art. Instead, Rothko argued that his paintings are “fully visible” to the viewer. They do not refer to anything else.

In other words, what you see is what you get. Ideally, the viewer would stand in front of his paintings, focusing on large fields of color and abstract forms, and come to terms with the self and his or her own scale. Colorfield painters believe that art could encourage the physical sensation of time and being there with the work.

Today I painted in an intensely emotional manner. I emphasized not an objecst but subjective emotions that expressed my mood.

Expressions

About This Painting:Expressions10x10This is an oil painting on gallery wrapped stretched canvas with painted sides.The back is wired and the painting can be hung as is or framed.Delilah Smith, Michigan, USA